I never laughed about their names, nor do I think most people did. They are unusual, yes, but I believe they show a great sense of humor (like the Carr family I knew who named their boys Ford and Scooter) and are certainly not deserving of derisive comments and laughter.

Ah, but AllenS, the nomenklature only allow themselves certain kinds of naked class bigotry. Hatred of white proles is acceptable - even mandatory. Any mockery of the classes they consider subservient is strictly prohibited.

Laugh at unusual names? No way. As one with an odd name, who went to school with Morri, Clyda, Kavin, Bedouin, Ray Anne, and others, I thought her kids' names were intriguing. They show much thought and creativity.

Blog posts seem to be getting distinctly snarky. As a member of a family with 'weird' names in that they are Assyrian, and Hungarian, and Biblical disciples names, the names Track and Trig rated barely a blip. What's with the snark? Air getting a bit rarefied in Madison?

What is the big deal about selecting the right names for children? Trigg sounds like a math major and Track sounds like a hunter. These days the young procreating couples are making up names that just sound good to them. That may be the unbelievable thing to Couric and friends...That a powerful politician shows off the kids which she names and nurtures. That is so dumb.

AllenS, I like the Obama girls' names. They are easy to say and spell. I also like a lot of ethnic names. I do think kids' names that are bizarrely spelled and unpronounceable are a burden on the kid, though. My rule is to add Senator, Judge, or Reverend to a name to see if it sounds good. My own name wouldn't pass that test, though. It's too late to go back to my middle name.

Would you rather be called As or Toy? I picked those two because it was convenient, and nothing more. I was looking through my Army roster from 1967, and I was reminded of how most first names back then were considered normal. But then there is Mosie, Garfield and Symather. Doing my geneaology research I noticed a Napoleon and a Percival.

I clicked the Sarah Palin tag and counted 20 posts in 16 months. The best one was Breast Enlargement Gate. That girl gets around and still excites the crowd wherever she goes, unlike King Obama I who is down to 41% job approval and falling.

Spoken like a true believer in the One. And, yes, desperate spin of outdated talking points to try to change the subject from the MSM actively managing the "news" to get him elected and his agenda enacted.

Talking about MSM bias - anyone else note the purchase this week of Newsweek by the husband of Jane Harmon? And can anyone here remember what her day job is, and has been for quite some time now?

If you're going to grant Couric the leeway to make fun of Palin's choices in the names of her kids, you also have to grant that same leeway to anyone that makes fun of Lotion (Loe-shawn), Timiqua (tim ee kwa), Shanaenae...well, you get the point.

I know that I laughed at the Obama daughters names. As a matter of fact, black first names are kinda goofy. Don't ya think?

Yes. (Although I would add a qualifier in front of black, such as some, and in fact the black adjective isn't necessary at all).

People will judge you on your name. If you want to have your kid be judged, and thereafter battle some preconceived notion, by all means name your kid something non-mainstream. It's creative, cute, charming, interesting. That's what you think. But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?

In this instance, I won't criticize this mediocre excuse for a news reader but I certainly don't see a need [althouse] to defend her from those who see it as just more evidence of liberal media arrogance.

People will judge you on your name. If you want to have your kid be judged, and thereafter battle some preconceived notion, by all means name your kid something non-mainstream. It's creative, cute, charming, interesting. That's what you think. But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?

That depends on the name, of course. My son is named very conventionally for his father and grandfather. Technically, he's a III. But, we don't call him by his first name, we call him Trip (short for triple...I never liked the more Southern "Tres"). As a guy, I think Trip is a cool name no matter what you end up as. But, first and foremost, he goes into job interviews, for instance, with his name. Afterward, he can immediately ask them to call him Trip.

A good, out-of-the-mainstream-but-still-cool compromise, I feel. Besides, Trip is a good QB name...

I have never given the names of Sarah Palin's children a thought. And, while I don't think that video shows anything worth commenting on or presenting as news, I never thought for a second that Katie Couric is anything but a Left-wing loon, unable to tell the truth and completely unworthy of the position she holds in American society.

People will judge you on your name. If you want to have your kid be judged, and thereafter battle some preconceived notion, by all means name your kid something non-mainstream. It's creative, cute, charming, interesting. That's what you think. But is it what the person who will be hiring your kid in 15-20 years thinks?

My first partner's nephew is named Chance. His mom named him that because it was a really risky pregnancy, and they didn't think he was going to make it.

The kid is in high school now. He's happy and good looking, he doesn't drink or use drugs, and it looks like he'll be going to college -- all pretty amazing given that his home is on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Maybe an unusual name, or a name that means something, is a gift. It reminds a kid that they're unique in the world. Nothing wrong with that.

I didn't laugh at the Palin's kids names nor did I laugh at the Obama kids names. I was only trying to make the point that parents these days chose different kinds of first names, and if you think the Palin names are laughable, well then, how about the Obama names.

Like Blake, I didn't laugh at the names of Palin's children in private or in public, Althouse. Just sayin'.

When the video of Couric mocking the names of the President's daughters surfaces then I'll "spare" ya. It's just one more layer of the double standard where conservatives are treated with distain, progressive/liberals drooled over. I mean, who can forget Couric's even-handed treatment in the Palin interview, right?

I had four uncles: Uncle Carl; Uncle George; Uncle Joe; Uncle Frank. Uncle Carl was married to Aunt Rose. Uncle George was married to Aunt Florence. Uncle Joe was married to Aunt Sadye. Uncle Frank was married to Aunt Mary. They were all 1st generation American Jews who had deliberately been given "American" names, non-quirky names, names of the dominant culture. What's happened to us? What stupidity reigns that parents have to be "creative" in their naming?

I knew a drygoods store owner named Penney who named his first born son "J C". The sports addicts seem to like boys names to be short and tough like "Biff", "Matt", "Stan" and "Rob",as the full name and not nickname.

Both Ms. Palin and Ms. Couric come across as pleasant lightweights, elevated by others to stations above where their abilities would indicate. We're not talking about a couple of deep thinkers here. And as for suffering the disdain of Katie Couric (if she was being disdainful), it's not quite like being insulted by someone whose opinion is important.

I've laughed at a lot of names. A sister in law has two sons named Derrick and Tyler. Since they lived in Texas at one point, I thought it was mildly humorous. (Tyler, Texas and oil derrick).

A woman I work with has 5 daughters, intentionally or unintentionally all named after cities somewhere, Sidney (Australia), Madison (Wisconsin) and I can't remember the other three.

My daughter has a female black friend named Lyric, not too bad. Then I ran into a black boy named Lyric. When I told the girl I had met a boy named Lyric, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Is he black?" She knew what AllenS is talking about.

Hell, we tried to go unnisex with my oldest daughter and named her Craig Kelly ... She hates her first name and always wanted to change it to Cindy. I don't blame her.

One of my son's friends is named Treg. Don't know where that came from.

It seems people are more into odd names nowadays. They think it will somehow make their kids more unique.

well i haven't seen the video--i can't until i go home, but the description seems like thin gruel.

the names were odd. that's just reality. and there is nothing wrong with noting that, even humorously, as in "what is up with that?"

Of course more hilariously liberals thought conservatives would be appalled because two of the kids were named after television witches. which is gets double hilarity for two reasons. First conservatives aren't really generally that uptight. Second, the children were named before characters they were supposedly named after appeared on TV.

But i am disturbed that Willow might have been named for that Val Kilmer movie, given the bad taste involved if that was the case. ;-0

@garage: I am told that among the hip-hop set, guys will make passes at girls with big asses. So perhaps the First Lady's tush is a national treasure. (Soon to be a major motion picture starring Nicholas Cage.)

Two observations. General McChrystal lost his job and was forced to retire over his snarky comments made in private. Not exactly comparing apples to apples, but, I do see a thread of similarity. Second observation: lucky for Couric that Palin hadn't named her kids Kwame and Latownda. Because mockery of uncommon names (and neololgisms i.e. refudiate) are reserved for some and prohibited for others.The tacit understanding that it's alright to mock Palin's childrens names but not not the Obama's by our cultural gatekeepers actually is significant. What it shows is that objectivity isn't seen as essential to the journalism of Couric and others, rather as a sort of irksome joke. The way we, as children, would only stop tormenting our siblings when mother was watching.

"In private, who didn't have a laugh at the names of Sarah and Bristol Palin's kids?"Well.....me for one. Or at the Obama kids either. Now Jermajesty? Of course. I'm only human. I also laugh hysterically at Jeremy. But that has nothing to do with the name.

You call that shocking and biased, please. I've heard worse coming out the mouth of Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck on a daily basis. I saw this feed on Huffington Post and think it is super mild and not really politically charged at all. Want politically charged, look at the film of Glenn Beck making fun of the Obama kids concerning the oil crisis. Make my stomach turn.

Really Ann, people should think long and hard before they give their kids names like Track, Trig, Rumer, Talullah etc. This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up. Parents, before you saddle your child with a name like Pilot Inspektor, think long and hard. Think.

I,too, think this is a phony controversy over a phony controversy.And I am not a big fan of "The One" that you righties like to use as an insult.

Shouldn't we be thinking about ways to put people back to work and solving out budget woes instead of this bull.

Even though I think Palin's kids names are cute, I can see why some people think they're funny. Not to say I don't think there's a heavy dose of politics related hatred of Palin involved in some of the mocking.

Victoria:I'd be happy if just our elected "leadership" would think about ways to put people back to work and solving out budget woes. That is what we hired them to do, and it would seem we instead have a laser focus on golfing scores and the fierce moral urgency of acquiring larger personal jets for members of the most ethical congress ever.

This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up.

Ever heard Johnny Cash's song, "Boy Named Sue?" Those kids will grow up to be tough as nails instead of spoiled wimps wishing we could all live in a fantasy land.

BTW - Victoria is one of those names met with derision. Sounds snotty. Kids go around with their noses in the air saying with a fake British accent, "Victoria.... Queen Victoria" Vicki's fine though.

I feel for the people with unfortunate last names. Ever wonder how many times in their life people with the last name Newton hear "Fig Newton?" More than you can count, I'll tell you. A guy I work with a guy whose last name is "Whack." Rough childhood I'm sure.

Really Ann, people should think long and hard before they give their kids names like Track, Trig, Rumer, Talullah etc. This anticipates that they will be mocked and, quite possibly, beaten up. Parents, before you saddle your child with a name like Pilot Inspektor, think long and hard. Think.

nice to know you are confirmed school bully. People like you make the world a hateful place to grow up in.

Nobody here has read In This House of Brede? I mean, I haven't either, but I know that Rumer Godden was a respectable novelist.

I forget where I read this, and google is no help, but unusual names for guys are thought of as weird, so they have a tough time being teased, while unusual names for girls are thought of as distinctive, making them seem more fascinating.

The parents of Holly and Timothy Near liked vegetation, but it must have been rough on the female Timothy.

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Lots of discussion about the names of the Palin kids and the Obama kids, but not a word about the name "Barack," which is just as weird as Trig or T'Neequa. Guess that goes to show you that people will get used to names.

I kind of like Tallulah...she was named for Tallulah Bankhead, wasn't she? I've laughed at many names over the years. Haircuts, too.

Prarie winds...Tallulah is a place name for a river, gorge and falls starting in Western NC and ending in the northeastern corner of Georgia. The name is said to predate the Cherokees who took up the name from Creek Indians there before them. It was too pretty a name to change it.It is like Palin's kids names in that it has no meaning except as a great sounding spoken name.

Have you even heard of Grover Norquist, Ann? He who holds closed meetings with conservative journos, lobbyists, Republican staff, etc.

It's not a bull session. These meetings are even more overtly political to discuss and share strategy.

Where is the Althouse outrage there? Not good for your right wing links, page views and traffic?

They gather every Wednesday morning in a boardroom of Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist is president of the anti-tax group. The shades are down, the lights are weak, yet an incandescent assuredness infuses the room. A hundred and twenty people mill around, eating bagels, distributing talking points, exchanging business cards and tips. They are lobbyists, analysts, senior White House and Hill staffers, advocates for property rights, gun ownership and traditional values. There are never enough chairs. The air is as warm as a hatchery.

"Guys, could you all please be seated," Norquist said on a recent Wednesday. " 'Cause as usual, we have a fun-filled, action-packed, spine-tingling agenda."

The sessions are by invitation only, and off the record. A Washington Post reporter was allowed access on the condition that no participant would be quoted without permission.

There are no David's, John's, Steven's or Bill's in my kids' classes. No Ann's or Janice's either. Very few Cathy's. No Katie's either.

There is a Stormy Rain, River, and a host of names in that vein. A few "traditional" Michaela's and Brittany's.

Katie Couric is a "mean girl" and if anything threw Palin off her stride, it was probably the sharply dawning realization of malice in the facial clues, the tone and every fiber of Couric's being. I suspect Palin was prepared to stand up to the bullies of the world, had done so with the bullies in her own state, but was temporarily unprepared to find Couric was not the sweetie her on-air persona suggests.

And now, Sarah Palin has taken every brick they could throw, and is still standing. Not just standing, but knocking them dead. She'll still be standing when Couric's network du jour folds up and disappears. And so will her beautiful kids.

There is no reasoning with paranoids who have dug in with a conspiracy theory.

You guys are fucking crazy. You think Obama was born in Kenya, that an email list is a conspiracy to control the news, that gay people marrying somehow threatens you, that immigrants are out to take over the country.

Here in the mountains, people are often given initials instead of names. I knew an L.R. and and R.L. and never knew their names, even after they died. Their obits didn't give their names, if they even had names.

One legend (and I doubt it's more than that) is that a local boy joined the Army during WWII and gave his name as J.B. The Army told him that he had to give them a name, which he vehemently denied having. They asked and asked him, and he finally, slowly, and clear said, "My name is J-only, B-only." He was known to the US military as Jonly Bonly after that.

One legend (and I doubt it's more than that) is that a local boy joined the Army during WWII and gave his name as J.B. The Army told him that he had to give them a name, which he vehemently denied having. They asked and asked him, and he finally, slowly, and clear said, "My name is J-only, B-only." He was known to the US military as Jonly Bonly after that.

I have an uncle who is named after I guess my great grandfathers army buddy. Since they didn't know his middle name my uncle's name is "Guy B.".

I also had some sort of great (great?) aunt who they called 'girl' until she was 5 or so and then they let her pick her name. And she always kicked herself for picking "Bernice".

exhelodrvr1 said... "It is important, if her level of disdain affects the way she presents the news. And based on the news storis that are provided on her show, it would seem that is does affect it."

Well of course it does; Katie Couric is playing to her (dwindling) audience. Those who watch Ms. Couric are the ones who want their news presented with a left-wing slant by a perky, airheaded nitwit. If she loses those viewers, her audience will number in the dozens.

There is a sad story behind the most common Italian surname, Esposito (the exposed one). It was given to unwanted babies left on the steps of churches, convents, etc. It's as if the most common English surname were Foundling.

When I was in Jr. High, one of my teachers was J. C. Bailey, the letters J & C were his name. He said that in the army, they made him make up a name. He called himself Jesse C. Bailey. That became his name from then on.

You guys are fucking crazy. You think Obama was born in Kenya, that an email list is a conspiracy to control the news, that gay people marrying somehow threatens you, that immigrants are out to take over the country.

As usual, over the top generalizations.

As for the immigrants, the problem is that Congress has drawn a line as to who should be allowed to immigrate, and who shouldn't, and that line is not being enforced by the Executive Branch, and in the case of the Obama Administration, is being flagrantly flaunted.

We cannot afford unlimited immigration, because at some point, it costs more than it brings in. We cannot afford a billion people living in this country, and is likely what we would see if immigration were not limited. And beyond that point, which we seem to have crossed, immigrants, esp. poor ones with no skills, cost more than they bring to this country. You may wish to have a significantly lower standard of living due to your perception of humanity, but most of us do not.

But more relevantly, the Journalist emails do show that the "news" that many, if not most in this country were exposed to, was being actively managed by the MSM throughout the Obama election and up until fairly recently.

You can pretend that it didn't happen. But it is just too coincidental those times when the Journalist members would figure out a common spin or response to something, and all of a sudden, in lockstep, many of the media outlets that they work for would, in lockstep, respond almost identically through what stories they would push and what stories they would suppress.

At 6:33pm, Instapundit links to pictures of a shit faced Kouric doing a sad, desperate boogie. Such photos would be career ending if they were of Palin. These pictures should be used to illustrate and illuminate any article on the Couric-Palin contretemps.

THis doesn't change the fact that Katie Couric is totally partial and biased and far left, there isn't much to this particular story. So she thought the names were weird. It's not like she dwelled on it and went into a diatraibe against the Palin's. THey happen to have unique names.In fact they remind me a bit of the Phoenix family, with the bizarre nature inspired names. And if someone read off those names I could imagine anyone doing a double take.

So, much as I'd loke to jump on Katie Couric, this is much ado about nothing.

This really was minimal, if an issue at all. It is this sort of hair splitting that hurts the credibility of legitimate allegations of media bias.

No surprise with Katie, but the names aren't that crazy.Did anyone think Katie was above snobbery and subjective quips? This is a failed "gotcha!" Too many real aberrations in this admin and the media to go after the trivia.

I know of a girl named Shithead (shi-THEED). That would be trouble. Wait till we get an out-take of Katie under Obama's desk. Could happen

If EVER a guy deserved to murder his parents for the name they laid on him it was a man I knew growing up by the name of Roe Haddock. LOL!!!

And if not him, then the girl who went to my college: Robyn Banks. (No, really.)

My daughter has a female black friend named Lyric, not too bad. Then I ran into a black boy named Lyric. When I told the girl I had met a boy named Lyric, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Is he black?" She knew what AllenS is talking about.

Hmm--I taught a girl named Lyric, and she was white. At the time, I thought it was funny that Lyric was playing an instrument instead of singing, well, the lyrics.

Names, alas, go in and out of fashion. Clyde was among the top 100 most popular names for boys at the turn of the last century, according to the baby names site at ssa.gov. It's Scottish and means "heard from afar," probably describing the river of the same name. At this point, it's not even in the top 1000 any more, driven out by negative cultural references like "Bonnie and Clyde," Ahab the Arab's camel, Clint Eastwood's orangutan, etc.

I'm glad that your boss is doing his bit to keep the name in circulation.

I found the stories up-comments about people being called by their initials familiar, because when I was a small boy, since my Dad was also Clyde, my relatives called me by my initials, C.E. It wasn't until I started elementary school that I started insisting that everyone call me by my given name and not my initials. It tooks several years after that to finally persuade my grandparents to do so.

And having a distant ancestor named Richard Head (early 18th Century) back in the paternal side of my family tree, I fully understand about the "call me Richard" phenomenon. You wouldn't believe how hard Mom laughed when she found that out.